Editing Standards
This page is only meant for official documentation on standards of editing and creating pages. Editing of this page is closed off to the public. Rules The rules are simple and straight forward. Everyone is expected to follow them. #Be outgoing! Seriously, it's a wiki! Don't be discouraged to make an edit or create a page if you have information on it. Try to avoid mistakes, but even if you make one, there will be others that will help fix them up for you. Just do whatever the best you can to contribute! #Be civil and respectful of others. Don't fight over edits and talk back to each other in the comments section. We're all human beings, try to act like one. #Use the preview button! It's there for a reason! If you're unsure of the look of your edit or page, there's a preview button right there to show you what it would look like in its final form! Use it and abuse it to avoid mistakes! Editing Review Any page that doesn't meet the standards will be put up for an Editing Review, meaning, it's encouraged that everyone is to edit the page as much as possible, even shifting things entirely, to make the page suitable for OTterpedia standards. Any edits that vandalize a page or any pages added that are clearly "trolling" will be deleted and/or undo'd. The following pages are up for Editing Review: *Minecraft Forums *Diplout Please Note: Just because something is not put up for Editing Review, doesn't mean it shouldn't be edited. Editing Review is only a sign that the page needs a lot of work before it meets up to standards. Any page can be edited and changed around if it'll improve its quality. Do not ever feel the need not to edit only because it's not up for Editing Review! English Use This wiki is meant for English viewers. Please keep all text in English unless under circumstances that relate to an article's subject. Proper use of grammar and spelling is also of importance. Refrain from using first-person pronouns within article pages as well as refrain from using excessive amounts of grammar or spelling errors. This is a wiki, not your own personal blog, if you wish to do that, we do have user blogs, but other than that, wiki pages should stay third-person and as formal as possible. Mistakes cannot be completely avoided, but they can be mitigated, if a mistake is found, it will be edited eventually. Additionally, refrain from using subjective adjectives in articles. Phrases and wording like, "his posts can be clearly seen through his stupid choice of avatars," are not tolerated. Stay clear of that kind of wording, instead, rephrase it to appeal to a less subjective manner, "his choice of unique avatars make his post identifiable." We know everyone has an opinion, but try to stay clear from those opinions, and remain true to the facts. Rampant misconduct of this formatting will result in a page to be put on for Editing Review. Formal Formatting General conscious is that if it doesn't flow fluently and logically, it's not worthy to be written. Meaning, if the page's layout cannot be easily interrupted of which information corresponds to what subject, then it's not acceptable. A clear example of not following this standard can be indicated through a screenshot of this page. Note not only the improper compliance of the English Use standard, but note how it's difficult for the human mind to grasp to one source of information easily. The paragraphs are too long and logically fall out of order, making comprehending of the page rather difficult. Refrain from using this style. Use proper paragraphs and use appropriate headers to organize and collect your thoughts that are easily understandable. While the adjective "nice" is largely subjective, it can largely be agreed upon that the example used is not a good example of a "nice" layout. Try to keep the layout clean. Make pictures not stand out too much and make sure their positioning makes sense. If it looks appealing at first glance, it's generally good to move on with. Normal wiki formatting also applies here. Bold the first word of the subject when it's first introduced into the introductory of the page, and any of its other meanings. Example (the page is about danthonywalker): "danthonywalker, also known as danthy, dan, danny, is a..." If there is a word or phrase that relates to Off-Topic and would be suitable for a page, whether that's a user or another subject, link it appropriately. Do not hyperlink stuff that's not OTter related. Do not, however, repeatedly link to the same page multiple times. Only link the first use of that word or phrase. Depending on the severity of misconduct the page could either be put up for Editing Review or deleted immediately. Just use common sense, is basically all we're asking. Informational Standards Probably the simplest of the standards. Simply put, just have enough information so that it's viable enough to be a page. Every page should have at least 1 paragraph's worth of information. 2 or 3 sentences is not a full paragraph. Enough information to get a basic idea of the subject at hand is required, meaning this standard is on a case by case basis. This page is a good example of meeting the minimum standard. Additionally, incomplete or inaccurate information is largely discouraged and intolerable. If the information presented is known to be incomplete in terms of missing key ideas for that specific page, and/or inaccurate then it'll be immediately be put up for Editing Review. If the entire page is known to be inaccurate, it'll be deleted. Be true to facts. Consequences and Conclusion Users that violate these standards repeatedly are at risk of being suspended from editing or adding on to articles temporarily or indefinitely. The most we ask for is everyone to be courteous and have common sense. These rules and standards should not be anything new from what should be known from the largest encyclopedia in the world, Wikipedia. This is a relatively small wiki for a relatively small community. Help us look professional and present ourselves well. We are being read by outsiders, so the most we can show them is that we are a fantastic community with a wonderful purpose. Thank you. Helpful Tips *If you're wondering how a page was able to look that way you can always look at its source code. To do this, either go to editing mode then go to Source, or, if the page is locked, click on the View Source button. *Source mode offers spell check. This is a great way to find spelling mistakes as Visual mode does not offer such services. *Preview mode gives the page's final look. While visual gives you a basic idea, the true look of a page will be based off the Preview mode. Rely on that rather than Visual. *There are all sorts of templates and tricks you can use for wiki pages. Be sure to go out and discover them!